Nothing Has Ever Come Too Easily For Bears' Timpson

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — To Michael Timpson, there is really no debate. His 74 receptions for 941 yards for New England during the 1994 NFL season was all well and good, a personal high and all of that.

But the Bear receiver's claim to fame?

"The `88 Olympic Trials in the 200-meter dash," he says. "I made it to the semifinals, and Carl Lewis was in my heat. He was in Lane 4 and I was out in Lane 9, and next thing you know, I'm a spectator. I definitely was in awe. When he went by, it was so interesting just to see him run."

Timpson is still watching, or at least taping. His VCR will be humming this week as he takes part in Bears training camp in Platteville, Wis., assuming his position, along with Curtis Conway, as one of the Bears' featured wide receivers.

He wore that label last year as well, though only to Bears coaches who did not consider him the third receiver behind Jeff Graham and Conway but still couldn't manage to get him into the game other than third-down situations. Timpson performed well, though he averaged fewer than two catches per game and tries not to get annoyed when asked whether he can fill Graham's formidable shoes.

"I've been through this too many times before, years ago (in New England), when Stanley Morgan left and then when Irving Fryar left, so it's one of those things that is always going to happen as long as people come and go," he said.

"I just deal with it and let the critics say what they want, and I do the job when given the opportunity."

The fact is, Timpson can be every bit the weapon Graham was, given his breakaway speed, his underneath potential and his '94 numbers with the Patriots.

That season, he benefited by having All-Pro tight end Ben Coates draw double-team coverage, but just the same, Timpson was a feared deep threat.

"He probably gets a little insulted when someone looks at him as the third receiver a year ago and now all of a sudden, he has to step up and be the guy," said Bears coach Dave Wannstedt.

"But I think Michael looks at himself as someone who wouldn't have been brought here two years ago if he didn't think he could be the go-to guy."

Timpson admitted it was difficult mostly watching last season after having a career year for the Patriots the season before, but it certainly wasn't his first disappointment.

"I've always had to work extra hard," he said. "I wasn't a first-round pick coming in, where anything was given to me. I've always had to work extremely hard.

"I battled three arthroscopic knee surgeries. I've been a fourth-round pick. I've been second, third string. I thought I was going to start, then a guy would be drafted and he'd come in and be put in front of me, so I've had all these ups and downs.

"In a way, I kind of think that's just my lot in life. Nothing is going to be easy for me. If something was to come easy for me, I'd know something was fishy."

Interestingly, track comes a lot easier than football.

"I was always a much better track athlete than a football player," says Timpson, who ran sprints and hurdles. "Basically, that's what got me drafted. I came as a fourth-round pick to New England. Bobby Engram laughs at me when I tell him I led the (Penn State) team with 25 balls the last year I was there (Engram led Penn State with 67 catches his senior year). That definitely helped, and that's why track has always played a big part."

It will always be his first love, though his commitment to football would not allow him to reach a world-class level. For that reason, Timpson has always wondered how far he could go in track, and he may very well get his answer one day when he plans to make a comeback as a hurdler.

"You look at Edwin Moses, and he was 35, but he was an exception to the rule, so I don't know," Timpson says. "I'll give it a go, and I'll find out very quickly. If I get run off the track a few times, then I'll definitely give up on it very quickly.

"It won't take me long, that's for sure."

Hopefully, he won't give up on it too quickly. If it came too easily, after all, something would surely be fishy.